Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach, often stylized as Halo: REACH, is a first-person shooter developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It is the sixth installment in the Halo series and final installment by Bungie. It was released in 2010 exclusively for the Xbox 360. Plot Noble Six, a new member to the a team of SPARTANs that were dispatched to Planet Reach, is meeting their new team as the team's commander issues orders to find the cause of why a relay station had gone offline. Expecting insurgents, the team learns that the Covenant forces, a religious military force, is behind the attack. The team is dispatched to Sword Base, which is an installation owned by the Office of Naval Intelligence, often abbreviated as ONI, for defense against a large Covenant threat. Catherine Halsey, creator of both MJOLNIR armor and the SPARTAN-II program, informs the team that Covenant were searching for important information. attempt to stop a Covenant Zealot]] As the Covenant continue to dispatch their forces, Noble Team is dispatched to numerous defensive missions. As a super-carrier, known as the Corvette, looms over Planet Reach, Noble Six and Jorge, Noble Team's heavy-weapons specialist, are tasked with destroying the carrier with a bomb. As the detonator is destroyed, Jorge sacrifices himself to destroy the Corvette manually. As Noble Six regroups with the rest of Noble Team, they learn that a new fleet has arrived. As the team is attempting to leave the ONI building in New Alexandria, Kat, Noble Team's engineer, is killed by a sniper. As Noble Team is dispatched to the Covenant-taken Sword Base, they learn that Halsey is alive inside the base and introduces them to an ancient Forerunner, a deceased race of enlightened beings, artifact that may turn the tide of Covenant attack. An artificial intelligence, Cortana handpicks Noble Six as her carrier to her chosen soldier, revealed to be John-117, otherwise known as the Master Chief, in Halo: Combat Evolved. En route to the Pillar of Autumn, Carter, Noble Team's leader, sacrifices himself to save Emile, Noble Team's close-quarters specialist, and Noble Six from an onslaught of Covenant forces. On board the Pillar of Autumn, Captain Jacob Keyes secures Cortana as Emile is slain by Covenant Elites. receiving the package]] Noble Six opts to replace Emile as the defensive gunner of the MAC to stop incoming Covenant forces from destroying the Pillar of Autumn. As the Pillar of Autumn escapes Planet Reach, the game depicts the opening cinematic from Halo: Combat Evolved, in which Cortana discovers the Halo ringworld. Noble Six is given one more task of surviving an overwhelming Covenant force as SPARTANs are dictated to not be killed-in-action, only become missing-in-action. As Noble Six's helmet begins to crack from the bullets fired at it, Noble Six discards the helmet, but is eventually overwhelmed and slain by Covenant Elites. Thirty years later, Noble Six's helmet is seen in a rejuvenated Planet Reach. Halsey eulogizes Noble Six's sacrifice, which allowed victory over the Covenant forces. Gameplay The gameplay of Halo: Reach is much like past installments. New features that have been added is the new ability system. Players can choose an ability, such as sprint, jet pack and drop shield in the Matchmaking mode or find abilities throughout the campaign mode. Reach features tweaks to existing Halo weapons as well as new weapons. The Forge mode, a level editor, has been improved allowing objects to be phased into others and be snapped to specific orientations. An addition to the gameplay is the ability to assassinate enemies for a silent kill in both the campaign and matchmaking modes. Assassinations can be performed on ground and in mid-air as well as certain weapons having their own assassinations, however, the enemy must be approached from the back side. The multiplayer includes many of the vast modes already seen throughout the Halo franchise, such as Slayer, as well as new modes. The existing modes have been improved, such as the Firefight mode introduced in Halo 3: ODST now allows players to play as the Covenant forces. Downloadable Content Halo: Reach has received two downloadable map packs, however, there have been many updates to the playlists and game types in the pasts. * Noble Map Pack - The Noble Map Pack includes three new maps: Tempest, a new variation of the Forge World map, Anchor 9, an orbital dry-dock controlled by the UNSC, and Breakpoint, a series of frozen modular labs. * Defiant Map Pack - The Defiant Map Pack includes three new maps, two multiplayer maps and one Firefight map: Condemned, a giant orbital above the burning surface of Reach, Highlands, a top secret Military Wilderness Training Preserve, and Unearthed, the single Firefight map. Reception Reach was released with highly positive reception. On the critic aggregate reviews, GameRankings and Metacritic, the game has a normalized score of 92.23% and 93%, respectively, based on samples of 15 and 26 reviews. IGN writer Erik Brudvig rated Reach 9.5 out of 10, while IGN UK writer Martin Robinson rated it 10 out of 10 and both writers awarded it IGN's Editor's Choice Award. Brudvig praised the Campaign for not suffering from the "repetitive landscapes and circuitous, difficult to follow plots" that past Halo had, as well as the Armor Abilities, and in general thought that Reach was a "big step forward," but pointed out that the Campaign was the most difficult of the entire Halo series, and in its Co-op mode the difficulty increases further. Brudvig cited a lack of detail in the graphics and "the occasional framerate stutter while the engine can't keep up with what's happening." This stutter is due to the larger scale of the game. In general, Brudvig felt it was "excellent, backed by solid storytelling and a powerful audio-visual experience" and considered it Bungie's "ultimate punctuation on a decade's work." Brudvig was somewhat critical of the multiplayer map selection, since 4 out of the 13 available maps were remakes from past Halo games, but spoke positively of the more flexible Forge options allowing players to customize maps. He concluded by saying, "the multiplayer suite is one of the best ever" and felt that the Firefight mode "had met its potential." Martin Robinson's review also spoke very positively about the Campaign, calling it a "full-blooded final effort that brings together the very best elements of the series' past while pushing those basics further forward than ever before and there's none of the anti-climactic theatrics of the second game or failed experimentation of ODST." Robinson felt that the weapons, particularly the Assault and Plasma rifles, were "so violent in their depiction they feel like they're about to tear your hands off and even the pistols feel more ferocious than ever before." Despite his criticism of the story, Robinson felt that the level design was Bungie's best and wrote "it's the multiplayer that qualifies Reach as truly exceptional." Gallery File:Hemorrhage (Halo Reach).png|The Hemorrhage multiplayer map, a recreation of Blood Gulch from Halo: Combat Evolved File:Reflection (Halo Reach).png|An area of the Reflection multiplayer map File:Pinnacle (Halo Reach).png|The Pinnacle multiplayer map File:The Cage (Halo Reach).png|The Cage multiplayer map File:Tempest (Halo Reach).png|The Tempest multiplayer map from the Noble Map Pack add-on File:Anchor 9 (Halo Reach).png|The Anchor 9 multiplayer map from the Noble Map Pack add-on File:Breakpoint (Halo Reach).png|The Breakpoint multiplayer map from the Noble Map Pack add-on Category:Games released on the Xbox Category:Games that are rated M Category:Games released in 2010